Rio Ferdinand has come under fire from former Sky Sports News anchor Jeff Stelling for his assertion that Mikel Arteta would “100%” go from Arsenal to Manchester United given the opportunity.
After five years at the club, Arteta has turned the Gunners into a contender for the Premier League crown, with Arsenal finishing close to Man City last season.
This season, Arteta’s team are competing for the title again and going shoulder to shoulder with Liverpool and Manchester City.
Man Utd, on the other hand, were eliminated from the Champions League at the group stage and, until recently, under Erik ten Hag, had not been able to achieve any consistency in the Premier League.
Ferdinand responded to a question on his FIVE YouTube channel on what Arteta would do if he were offered the Man Utd job. He said:
“Arteta would leave Arsenal to join Man United, 100 per cent.
“No one is saying it’s happening but if Man United in a wild dream said, ‘Do you know what, Erik ten Hag, thank you’ or Erik ten Hag has been poached by Bayern Munich, and he goes there, and then Man United say top of the list is Arteta.
“Arteta is going in and saying to the lads, ‘Listen guys, it’s been emotional but I’ve got to move, I’ve got to go’.”
“Now, Rio was speaking – surprise, surprise – on his YouTube channel.
“I think that’s known as clickbait, Rio. We’re not all as daft as we look, pal. Talk about nonsense! We’re gullible, but we’re not that gullible.”
No wonder the remarks from Ferdinand were sensational and not close to reality. Arteta is an integral part of the Arsenal project and he is committed to staying at the North London club.
What Ferdinand said looked more like hope than reality. The Spanish manager has been linked with the Manchester City job as a potential replacement of Pep Guardiola in the future. More recently, he was paired with the Barcelona job with Xavi leaving at the end of the season.
